Tottenham boss Villas-Boas drops interest in Damiao

01 February 2013 04:20

Villas-Boas made Damiao his top January transfer target but, despite a last-ditch attempt, Spurs failed to land the 23-year-old. Chairman Daniel Levy's failure to sign Damiao means Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor will be Tottenham's only recognised senior strikers after Internacional claimed Spurs' offer did not meet their valuation.

"We've approached this market very sensibly," Villas-Boas told a press conference. "I've said in our conversations that if (the Damiao bid) was going to go out of proportion, we would step out of it. We have made it public before that he is a player that we chase, but we couldn't agree on the full conditions so we've moved on."

Tottenham, who have a club partnership with Internacional, were expected to renew their interest in Damiao this summer, but Villas-Boas claims that is now unlikely.

Levy has become famed for his love of a last-minute deal in the window. He landed Rafael van der Vaart in the dying minutes of the summer window in 2010 and he left it late to capture Clint Dempsey last August.

But his failure to land Villas-Boas' top two targets in the past two windows - Damiao and Porto's Joao Moutinho - has left some fans unhappy.

Villas-Boas, who added Zeki Fryers and Lewis Holtby to his ranks last month, remains convinced his squad can finish in the top four this season, however.

"The fans' concerns are made by opinion-making and media expectations, so it's a roller coaster and it's more difficult for them to take," the Portuguese said.

"If this window hadn't opened, we sit fourth with the squad that we started the season with and you look pretty comfortable where you are. We are as we stand."